Michael Dillon has worked for Indigenous organisations in the Kimberley and Central Australia, and in senior bureaucratic roles in the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth. He has been an adviser to several federal ministers for Indigenous affairs and was a former CEO of the Indigenous Land Corporation, and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the ANU.
Essays & reportage
The incident at Skull Creek
Michael Dillon
7 May 2025
Sparked by dubious arrests based on mistaken information, Western Australia’s Laverton royal commission reverberates fifty years later
Essays & reportage
Tragedy and opportunity on the Plenty River
Michael Dillon
4 July 2024
An announcement at Huckitta Station provides a link between native title and police powers
National affairs
Gap years
Michael Dillon
8 March 2024
Obfuscation and delay are blocking efforts to tackle Indigenous disadvantage
National affairs
Indigenous policy’s inflection point
Michael Dillon
16 October 2023
What does the referendum result mean for First Nations policymaking?
Books & arts
A dictionary for the future
Michael Dillon
1 February 2023
The Gija Dictionary opens a window on the sophisticated culture of the people of the East Kimberley
Essays & reportage
A steep climb ahead, but the landscape has become clearer for Closing the Gap
Michael Dillon
8 September 2020
While the new agreement opens up opportunities for Indigenous organisations, the federal government has stepped back from its post-1967 responsibilities
Essays & reportage
All hands on deck
Michael Dillon
21 August 2020
Noel Pearson’s job guarantee plan meets its most powerful critic: the newspaper that published it
National affairs
Indigenous affairs: how we’re choosing by not choosing
Michael Dillon & Neil Westbury
19 June 2019
We should all be aware of the great cost of inaction
National affairs
Tactics versus strategy in Indigenous housing
Michael Dillon
18 January 2018
The federal government’s bargaining position will worsen the shortage of homes in remote communities
Books & arts
Untangling a new era for land rights
Michael Dillon
15 April 2016
Books | The land rights debate has entered a new era, writes Michael Dillon, and Leon Terrill is an informed and engaging guide
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